DETROIT — “My father was a plain Christian man, who loved his family and found his greatest satisfaction in doing his duty,” Archbishop Allen Vigneron said following the death of Elwin Vigneron.
Mr. Vigneron, of Ira Township, died June 5 at St. John River District Hospital in East China Township, north of Marine City. He was 92.
“His being a Catholic was an unquestioned part of his very being, and he taught that to us, mostly by his example,” the archbishop said.
Mr. Vigneron had lived in the Fair Haven area of Ira Township, where he had been raised and later inherited his parents’ home. He and his wife, Bernadine, raised their six children in the house, which has been in the family since the mid-1800s.
The Vignerons were parishioners of Immaculate Conception Parish in the Ira Township village of Anchorville.
Archbishop Vigneron has thanked his parents over the years for their support for his priestly vocation. Upon his installation as archbishop of Detroit in 2009, he said, “They always made it very clear to me that they would support me in whatever I wanted to do in my life. They made it a point to never put pressure on me.”
Mr. and Mrs. Vigneron were in the front pews at the Cathedral of the Most Blessed Sacrament in Detroit as their son was installed as archbishop.
Upon his son being named to succeed Cardinal Adam Maida as archbishop, Mr. Vigneron spoke about their family priorities while Archbishop Vigneron was growing up. “Religion for one thing, and being a family – (those) are what’s most important,” he said.
His other children saw his life as an example, as well. His youngest son, Gary, said his father had a tremendous work ethic and a great love for life and for others.
“More than anything he was a very hard working man,” said Gary. “He lost his dad really early in life. He loved working outside. He loved taking care of his old farm, mowing the grass. He was a very good friend to a lot of people.”
Gary Vigneron, who with his wife Kimberly has two teenage sons, added that his father was “passionate about his grandchildren.”
Mr. Vigneron’s only daughter, Patricia Maxwell, echoed her brother’s remarks about her father loving to be outdoors, and said “he was devoted to mom, as well as his faith.”
She said her father had an easygoing nature and always had time for others, but that didn’t mean he let his children get away with anything: “He was sometimes stern, but we needed it, in that respect.”
“I just have so many fond memories of him. I used to love listening to his stories about how things were years ago, and only wish I had paid more attention,” Maxwell continued.
Since her father’s death, she said, many people had spoken to her of his friendliness and acts of kindness: “I was really moved by the number of people who showed up, and who told us the way Dad touched their lives.”
Mr. Vigneron had been retired since the early 1980s from a career in construction. He worked as an operating engineer with heavy equipment, a member of Local 324, International Union of Operating Engineers, often for the Kensington Corporation. He also had served in the U.S. Navy during World War II.
Mr. Vigneron’s ancestry reaches back five generations to French-speaking Canada. His father, Henry, was a sailor, and died during Mr. Vigneron’s childhood. His mother, Eva, raised him along with his brother, Norman, who died in the 1950s.
Aside from enjoying time with his family, Mr. Vigneron enjoyed baseball. He played when he was younger, and was an avid Detroit Tigers fan in his later years. He also enjoyed watching freighters on the St. Clair River.
Besides Archbishop Vigneron and his brother Gary and sister Patricia, Mr. Vigneron is survived by his wife, Bernadine, and other sons, John, Ronald and Mark, as well as grandchildren.
A funeral Mass was celebrated last Friday, June 8, at Immaculate Conception Church, Ira Township, with Archbishop Vigneron as principal celebrant, and with Cardinals Edmund C. Szoka and Adam Maida seated in choir.
Memorials suggested to Immaculate Conception Parish, Ira Township, or Sacred Heart Major Seminary, Detroit.
